La Cucina Fanti: Feeding the Neighborhood

Every neighborhood has its own little pizza shop, maybe even a few. However, you can usually tell a particularly good one when you walk in the door and can smell and hear the authenticity in the air. For many residents of Maple Glen, La Cucina Fanti is that shop.

The restaurant is now in its twelfth year in Maple Glen, but owner Lou Fantini has been in the restaurant business for the past half century.

“I started 50 years ago by opening a restaurant with my dad in Society Hill,” said Fantini.

Fantini received his training on the job, by learning from other chefs.

“After that restaurant closed six years later, I worked with all the great chefs at the Warwick Hotel,” said Fantini. “That’s where I got my got my training, from cooking with those chefs.”

Fantini decided to transfer his cooking skills into something a little more accessible for everyone: pizza. His first venture was a restaurant he opened in Lansdale, which operated for 23 years.

“I like cooking everything. Since I’ve been 13 years, I've loved to cook. I don’t care what it is,” said Fantini. “I’m lucky. I found out what I wanted to do early in life. I’ve always enjoyed it. All the hours the restaurant business consumes of your life, it never bothered me.”

Just as Fantini ran his first restaurant in Society Hill with his father, his own son Jared now helps run La Cucina. Lou is in charge of the pizza while Jared manages the other aspects of the business. Like Lou, Jared has a passion for cooking, and has been tinkering in the kitchen since the fourth grade. The experience shows.

“We do a lot of traditional Italian dishes, pasta dishes, sauté dishes, and pizza. Our pizza is the thin, crispy pizza if you like that type. It’s not boardwalk pizza like everybody else has,” said Fantini.

La Cucina Fanti offers numerous specialty pizzas. The most popular slice: Pepperoni.

Pizza is a big seller for La Cucina Fanti but their pasta is not far behind.

“Nobody in the neighborhood has pasta cooked to order. We cook all our pasta to order. We don’t cook it in the morning and then when somebody orders it put it in the microwave and heat it up.” said Fantini. “That makes all the difference when it comes to pasta.”

In addition to pizza and pasta La Cucina Fanti has made to order sandwiches, the most popular being the chicken Caesar hoagie.

Don’t forget the fries to go along with your sandwich, Fantini says. Not interested in regular fries? Try broccoli fries, broccoli dipped in batter.

Fantini hopes to stay in Upper Dublin for the years to come.

“My son likes this neighborhood. I like this neighborhood,” said Fantini. “It reminds me of the old neighborhood, 40 years ago. There are a lot of nice people here, even people from the old neighborhood. People that I used to see 35 years ago I see now.”

L a Cucina Fanti is located at 810 Welsh Rd. For more information visit their website. http://www.lacucinafanti.com/